Paul Adrian Fried / HAMLET'S BIBLE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is a continuation of a four-part series of blog posts, “Who am I to interpret  Hamlet ?” June 16, 2019:  To be or not? (Part 1: English Studies & Teaching) June 23:  How Literally Did Shakespeare Take the Bible? (Part 2: Religious Studies & Assumptions) July 30:  Reading  Hamlet  through personal & national traumas (Part 3: Lies & PTSD) August 6:  Hamlet , PTSD & Entitlement (Part 4) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hamlet is a play about lies. Claudius kills his brother by poison but lies to all of Denmark, claiming his brother died because he was bitten by a snake while napping in his garden. Gertrude seems to have been deceived by Claudius’ lies. It is also a play about sexual transgressions: The marriage of Claudius to his dead brother's widow is considered incestuous by the play, as it would have been considered in Shakespeare's England, not only in light of how people int...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is a continuation of a four-part series of blog posts, “Who am I to interpret  Hamlet ?” June 16, 2019:  To be or not? (Part 1: English Studies & Teaching) June 23:  How Literally Did Shakespeare Take the Bible? (Part 2: Religious Studies & Assumptions) July 30:  Reading  Hamlet  through personal & national traumas (Part 3: Lies & PTSD) August 6:  Hamlet , PTSD & Entitlement (Part 4) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The first sentence in Hamlet is a question that Bernardo asks Francisco: “Who’s there?”  If the audience feels that the question is directed at all of us as well, we might ask: Who are we, reading or viewing this play? This week I’ll consider some key moments in my religious studies that changed my assumptions about the Christianity in which I was raised, assumptions I also ruminate about in my study of Shakespeare generally, and Hamlet in particular. Who a...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is the first in a four-part series of blog posts, “Who am I to interpret  Hamlet ?” June 16, 2019:  To be or not? (Part 1: English Studies & Teaching) June 23:  How Literally Did Shakespeare Take the Bible? (Part 2: Religious Studies & Assumptions) July 30:  Reading  Hamlet  through personal & national traumas (Part 3: Lies & PTSD) August 6:  Hamlet , PTSD & Entitlement (Part 4) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The first sentence in Hamlet is a question that Bernardo asks Francisco: Who’s there? Bernardo is speaking out of turn because he has not yet replaced Francisco at his post, so Francisco quickly corrects him: Nay, answer me: stand, and unfold yourself. My college Shakespeare instructor (like many others) noted that perhaps the audience should feel the question is directed at all of us as well: Who are we, reading or viewing this play? And who am I to have a blog abou...

What Kind of Fool was Shakespeare? Climate Change; Olivia & Malvolio; Ophelia & Polonius; Politics in Hamlet and Twelfth Night [1] How should we best think of Shakespeare’s relationship to his patrons and the powers-that-be? As an enthusiastic supporter of the English monarch and English church, regardless of its faults or occasional oppressions? Or might we better think of him like The Pianist , the film about a musician and piano player who escapes death in a concentration camp, and briefly entertains a Nazi military leader who would protect him? Or like the musicians in the 1980 film, Playing for Time , about musicians in a Nazi concentration camp allowed to escape death as long as they entertain their captors? [2] Or as a court fool, paid to entertain royalty, but required to speak awkward and inconvenient truths, as long as he could do so in a witty and entertaining manner? I’ve been thinking about this question for the past few weeks in light of a news item in ...